Alto Paraíso de Goiás is the main town of the Chapada dos Veadeiros, about three and a half hours north of Brasília, and the base most visitors use for the park and the waterfalls around it. It sits at over twelve hundred metres on a quartz-rich plateau, which is one reason the town has attracted a long line of mystics, healers and alternative communities; crystal shops and yoga retreats line its main street.
Look past that and it is a practical base, with plenty of pousadas and restaurants. The national park entrance is at the village of São Jorge, forty kilometres west, where the classic trails lead to the canyons and the Saltos do Rio Preto. Outside the park, the Vale da Lua, a river running over sculpted grey rock pitted like a moonscape, and the Cachoeira Santa Bárbara, near Cavalcante, are the other big draws.
Go in the dry season, May to September, when the trails are easiest and the rivers clear.